We are living in a time of constant change. When I grabbed a copy of the Accent three weeks ago, I had no idea that it was going to be our last printed issue for the rest of the school year. I also could have never imagined that classes were going to transition into distant learning and that everyone would be asked to go home. A lot has happened in the last few weeks. I am, just like you, still trying to process everything.
It is in this time of chaos, however, that being informed is more important than ever. Here at the Accent, we know that. Though the circumstances around us have changed, our priorities haven’t. We still aim to be your voice by accurately and fairly reporting what is happening in our community. We hope that during this time of isolation, we will be a bridge between you, your friends, your professors and your school.
This year still has five issues left, and we will finish them. Though our website is currently down, we are currently working on creating a backup wixsite. We will also upload PDF versions of each issue on Issuu.com so that it is easily accessible for everyone to read. This will also ensure that all articles are in order so that the library can archive these stories for future references. In addition, we plan to remain active on our social media accounts where we will communicate with our readers and be a quick link to their Southern community. You can find us on Instagram (@sauaccent), Twitter (@Southern_Accent) and Facebook (@the.southern.accent).
There will be some modifications to the newspaper as we are still trying to adapt to all the rapid changes. Instead of having eight pages in each issue, we will switch to four. Regardless, we still want to hear from you. The sections that we will continue to cover are News, Opinion, Religion, Lifestyle and Social Media. If you ever wish to contribute, then feel free to contact me at paolam@southern.edu. In the same way, if you ever have any story ideas, then reach out to me at any time or message any of our social media accounts. Despite everything going wrong right now, I believe there are still a lot of happy and hopeful stories. We want to make sure we don’t miss them.
I once read that newspapers are the first draft of history. The Accent is no different. We are all living history right now, and our team is ready to keep you informed by jotting down those first notes.